ALFA International ABM 2024: Connections, Profitability and Recruitment

The 2024 ALFA International Annual Business Meeting took place October 23-25, 2024, in New York, USA. Lepmets & Nõges Law Firm participated in this premier event for the second time. For more about why we joined ALFA International and what this network entails, please refer to our previous blog post. This year, our firm was represented at this international meeting by partners, attorneys Ott Lepmets and Kristjan Nõges.

For those who prefer not to browse the links above, know that ALFA International is a global network of law firms encompassing more than 150 unique firms, including thousands of lawyers across 80 different jurisdictions worldwide. Partnering with such an international organization allows our law firm to provide legal assistance to clients in virtually any jurisdiction globally, unrestricted by borders.

This year’s event focused on establishing international contacts, enhancing law firm profitability, and recruiting attorneys. Below, we present the key insights gained and outline some directions for the future.

 

New Legal Contacts in Asia and the Middle East

 

Establishing international connections has been a part of our law firm’s development strategy since joining ALFA International in early 2023. With nearly two years of membership and three prior international meetings, we have established a strong network across Europe and partly in the United States. This time, we chose to focus on expanding our network primarily in Asia and the Middle East. This strategic step is especially important as more and more Estonian companies operate or intend to establish operations in these regions. Conversely, we have observed a growing interest from companies from Asia and the Middle East to enter the European Economic Area through Estonia’s e-residency. We aim to facilitate bilateral movement and secure a substantial share of this market.

Our representatives’ days were filled with numerous meetings, through which we established collaborative ties with law firms in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. These contacts open new opportunities for our clients and provide us with the assurance that we can deliver high-quality legal support on that part of the world.

Our long-term vision includes continuously strengthening our collaborations and keeping these contacts current to make our stated goals a reality. Following ABM, we have already scheduled multiple meetings with newly established partner firms in 2025, and we will continue working on maintaining and creating new close connections.

Beyond formal meetings and contacts for the benefit of our clients, the event allowed us to engage in informal interactions, exchange experiences, and discuss similarities and differences in the legal services market across various cultures. Such conversations are often as valuable as official discussions, especially from a law firm development perspective. These conversations offered opportunities to learn from others’ mistakes and highlighted essential nuances in managing and growing a law firm.

In addition to formal meetings and building contacts for our clients’ interests, the event allowed us to engage informally, share experiences, and discuss the similarities and differences in the legal services market across various cultures. Such conversations are often as valuable as official discussions, especially from a law firm development perspective. These conversations offered opportunities to learn from others’ mistakes and highlighted essential nuances in managing and growing a law firm.

 

Increasing Law Firm Profitability

 

A major and recurring topic at the meeting was increasing law firm profitability. It was highly inspiring to hear how law firms across the globe, despite differences in size and cultural background, face similar challenges. The keynote speaker for this segment was Toby Brown, a widely recognized expert on increasing profitability for law firms, who has published numerous articles and studies on maximizing revenue within the legal sector.

Brown highlighted an interesting idea: not all revenues hold an equal value. He explained that each income stream incurs costs that must be carefully evaluated and that law firms should make deliberate decisions regarding the clients and projects they undertake. This concept represented a paradigm shift for us: whereas we previously approached profitability with a mentality of "all revenue is beneficial", we now recognize that some revenue streams are more advantageous than others, even when the invoice amount is identical. This insight includes assessing client value, project complexity, and corresponding fees.

In addition to valuable ideas on pricing strategies, we also learned better practices for managing discounts and write-offs. Brown emphasized the importance of understanding the actual value of work and setting fair fees that cover all related costs and yield profit. Improved task allocation among attorneys, considering their experience and expertise, also contributes to enhancing our firm’s profitability.

Beyond gaining insights into effective pricing strategies, we also acquired better techniques for managing discounts and write-offs. Brown emphasized the importance of accurately understanding the actual value of legal work and setting fair fees that cover all associated costs while ensuring profitability. Additionally, improving the allocation of work among attorneys based on their expertise and experience is expected to further enhance our firm’s profitability.

 

Purposeful Recruitment

 

A second principal theme of the conference was talent acquisition, with a particular focus on recruitment strategies. The keynote speaker for this session, Michael Ellenhorn, is a recognized expert in strategic recruitment for law firms. He founded a company called Decipher to help law firms create safer, more productive, and more profitable work environments through reliable, data-driven information. Ellenhorn regularly advises law firms on recruitment-related risks and is a frequent speaker at law firm retreats and industry conferences. His primary areas of expertise include lateral hiring, integration, and talent strategy.

Ellenhorn led an engaging seminar on the attraction and retention of top talent. It became clear that law firms globally, regardless of size, face similar challenges. The most significant challenge identified was the departure of trained lawyers to in-house counsel positions with clients. The second major challenge was attorney burnout, followed by a lack of due diligence in the recruitment process and the failure to recognize existing red flags.

Ellenhorn pointed the importance of creating an ideal attorney profile, considering the unique characteristics, size, location, work culture, and more of each law firm. This means that law firms should know precisely which values and qualities their future team members must possess. Lepmets & Nõges Law Firm now intends to develop and implement this concept as a priority based on insights gained from the seminar. It is essential to us that a potential attorney joining our team shares our core values, understands our work style, and is committed to contributing to our firm's growth. Once this model is finalized, we plan to publish a detailed post here on our blog about both the development process and the outcome. It will serve as a benchmark for any attorney in the market to assess whether we might be the best team for advancing their career.

Furthermore, we learned from the seminar that the recruitment process must be proactive – remaining receptive to highly qualified candidates even in the absence of an immediate need. Once we have developed the ideal attorney model suited to our firm, we will remain open to candidates fitting this model, regardless of immediate demand. Creating engagement opportunities following recruitment is simply a logical continuation of the process, primarily a marketing task.

Lastly, we gained practical guidance on conducting thorough due diligence to reduce risks associated with hiring new attorneys. High-quality recruitment is never incidental – it is a planned and elaborate process that involves thorough analysis and careful assessment of candidate suitability.

 

Conclusion

 

This year’s ALFA International ABM was not only a source of inspiration, connections and invaluable information but also a breakthrough experience for us. We recognized the potential to establish an international law firm with a cohesive internal environment – one that provides a stable, burnout-free environment for our attorneys while delivering efficient, top-quality service to clients across the globe. We are committed to becoming the premier employer and the foremost legal partner. We believe that this vision is within reach, and our work toward achieving it has already begun, with full readiness to meet the challenges ahead.

Therefore, dear attorney, if you happen to read this and feel inspired to build something unique and extraordinary with us, do not hesitate to contact us. There is always room for talent!

Likewise, dear client, if you have a legal issue anywhere in the world, please do not hesitate – contact our attorneys. We are confident we can resolve your situation in the best possible way! Advokaadibüroo Lepmets & Nõges – Precision. Power. Progress.